Still have unanswered questions on oxygen depletion:
Former Member
Sorry, this has been debated before. I've been all over the Net, all over books and haven't been able to get a short answer, an understandable answer in plain English. The question is in two parts:
When swimming all out, a hundred yards or meters in a short or long course, what gives out? What slows you down?
When doing flip turns with or without dolphin kicks, what makes you gasp for air if you stay too long under, and what makes you maybe go for open turn instead of flip turn when doing long distance, such as a 400 or 800. What part of your body will gain experience or endurance if you do the Tennessee Turns? Why is it that if you hold your breath instead of blowing out air to keep air out of nose, you will last more in your kick-off? Is this all related to C02 retention or is it an oxygen problem or is it a metabolic problem, going even deeper into the lactic acid buildup? Thanks again for your answers....billy fanstone
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Former Member
Put simply, aerobic is the state in which you can maintain exertion for an extended period of time. If you exceed the aerobic threshold you will be in the anaerobic threshold and your ability to sustain effort using this production method is limited to less than 2 minutes. Now, when you feel the need to breathe does that mean that you have crossed the line into anaerobic? Is the urge to breathe a warning that you are about to cross over into anaerobic? Comments from internists?
The urge to breathe is primarily due to the build up of metabolic waste (CO2) as Allen said earlier. I forget the name of the receptors, but they alert the brain when there is too much carbon dioxide rather than a lack of oxygen. The three energy pathways: aerobic, anaerobic and non-aerobic (ATP-CP) are working all the time; however, the intensity of the bout of exercise determines the proportion of each. The initial jump/dive into the water uses the non-aerobic, immediate form of energy (creatine phosphate), which qiuckly gets depleated (5 secs or so). If you are sprinting, the fast muscle contractions need energy faster than the slow aerobic pathway can supply, so the anaerobic pathway will supply the muscles with ATP until you've depleated all the stored muscle glycogen. You know you've reached that point when your body starts to burn and you have no choice but to slow down.
On the other hand, if you're primarily working aerobically and begin to increase the intensity, the point at which the anaerobic pathway begins to produce more H+ ions than the body can reabsorb is called anaerobic threshold, and the result will be muscle pain and fatigue, which will slow you down before it will allow you to use up your oxygen supply. Your brain will shut off conscious awareness before it will allow you to use up too much oxygen.
Oh, and the mitochondria only come into play during oxidative phosphorylation (aerobic), and you can train the body to build the mitochondrial matrix so aerobic metabolism becomes more efficient.
Anyway, blah blah blah...you can train the brain to not be so alarmed by the receptors telling it to breathe because of the buildup of CO2, which is why hypoxic (misleading name) training can be beneficial. The key is to relax into the speed and remember long slow exhales.
And remembering that the urge to breathe or lack of oxygen is not what is slowing you down, it is the buildup of lactic acid.
Put simply, aerobic is the state in which you can maintain exertion for an extended period of time. If you exceed the aerobic threshold you will be in the anaerobic threshold and your ability to sustain effort using this production method is limited to less than 2 minutes. Now, when you feel the need to breathe does that mean that you have crossed the line into anaerobic? Is the urge to breathe a warning that you are about to cross over into anaerobic? Comments from internists?
The urge to breathe is primarily due to the build up of metabolic waste (CO2) as Allen said earlier. I forget the name of the receptors, but they alert the brain when there is too much carbon dioxide rather than a lack of oxygen. The three energy pathways: aerobic, anaerobic and non-aerobic (ATP-CP) are working all the time; however, the intensity of the bout of exercise determines the proportion of each. The initial jump/dive into the water uses the non-aerobic, immediate form of energy (creatine phosphate), which qiuckly gets depleated (5 secs or so). If you are sprinting, the fast muscle contractions need energy faster than the slow aerobic pathway can supply, so the anaerobic pathway will supply the muscles with ATP until you've depleated all the stored muscle glycogen. You know you've reached that point when your body starts to burn and you have no choice but to slow down.
On the other hand, if you're primarily working aerobically and begin to increase the intensity, the point at which the anaerobic pathway begins to produce more H+ ions than the body can reabsorb is called anaerobic threshold, and the result will be muscle pain and fatigue, which will slow you down before it will allow you to use up your oxygen supply. Your brain will shut off conscious awareness before it will allow you to use up too much oxygen.
Oh, and the mitochondria only come into play during oxidative phosphorylation (aerobic), and you can train the body to build the mitochondrial matrix so aerobic metabolism becomes more efficient.
Anyway, blah blah blah...you can train the brain to not be so alarmed by the receptors telling it to breathe because of the buildup of CO2, which is why hypoxic (misleading name) training can be beneficial. The key is to relax into the speed and remember long slow exhales.
And remembering that the urge to breathe or lack of oxygen is not what is slowing you down, it is the buildup of lactic acid.
